Welcome

Opening Litany[1]:
Lord you give life to life!

From Day One, your Spirit brooding over the deep, your wind rushing, your breath filling.

As creatures of the earth, we inhale your grace, rejoicing in life abundant.

We use our breath, our being, to raise this hymn of praise:
Hallelujah to the sun’s hot passion embracing the ground’s great shoulders!

Hallelujahs for the growth from seed to plant greening the earth; its fruit—beauty and food!

Hallelujahs for generations of life tumbling one after another, life creeping, swimming, flying, running, below, above, upon, within.

All the world sings, calls, signals, speaks praise to God whose glory grows in all that breathes!

Fill us, enliven us to be ambassadors of life divine, breathing out your song in harmony, singing to our Creator, whose Holy Spirit is unending, ageless, eternal
and ever new.

Confession and Forgiveness[2]:
Blessed be the holy Trinity, + one God, whose steadfast love is everlasting, whose faithfulness endures from generation to generation.
Amen.

Sisters and brothers, let us not let sin control the way we live. Let us not give in to sinful desires. Rather, let us offer ourselves to God, whose mercy has brought us from death to life.

Silence is held for reflection.

Creator God,
have mercy on us. Forgive, us we pray, for those times we have squandered with aimless disregard our capacity to create, and for those times we have used our creativity as a force for destruction rather than reparation. Help us to live in appreciative awe of the creativity that you have planted within your people. Give us the patience and courage to nourish that creativity, and the strength and persistence to express it, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Friends, hear this:
Through the life, death and resurrection of + Jesus Christ, we have been set free from the power of sin! It no longer needs to control us. Be at peace: your sins are forgiven! Go out, and live in the light of Christ.
Thanks be to God!

Prayer of the Day:
Let us pray.
Holy God, creator of light and giver of goodness, your voice moves over the waters. Immerse us in your grace, and transform us by your Spirit, that we may follow after your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Amen.

Reading: Genesis 1:1-2:3
1:1 In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, 2 the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. 3 Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. 5God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

6 And God said, “Let there be a dome in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” 7 So God made the dome and separated the waters that were under the dome from the waters that were above the dome. And it was so. 8 God called the dome Sky. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.

9 And God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. 10 God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good. 11 Then God said, “Let the earth put forth vegetation: plants yielding seed, and fruit trees of every kind on earth that bear fruit with the seed in it.” And it was so. 12 The earth brought forth vegetation: plants yielding seed of every kind, and trees of every kind bearing fruit with the seed in it. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.

14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the dome of the sky to separate the day from the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. 16 God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. 17 God set them in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth, 18 to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.

20 And God said, “Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the dome of the sky.” 21 So God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, of every kind, with which the waters swarm, and every winged bird of every kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” 23And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.

24 And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures of every kind: cattle and creeping things and wild animals of the earth of every kind.” And it was so. 25 God made the wild animals of the earth of every kind, and the cattle of every kind, and everything that creeps upon the ground of every kind. And God saw that it was good.

26 Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.”

27 So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

28 God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.” 29 God said, “See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food. 30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. 31 God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

2:1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their multitude. 2 And on the seventh day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done. 3 So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that he had done in creation.

The word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Children’s Sermon

Sermon

Hymn of the Day: For the Beauty of the Earth

Apostle’s Creed:
I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to the dead.*
On the third day he rose again;
he ascended into heaven,
he is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.

Prayers of Intercession:
http://www.pilgrimpaths.co.uk/Finger%20Labyrinth%20and%20Prayer%20Guide%20Leaflet.pdf

Called into unity with one another and the whole creation, let us pray for our shared world.

. . . Hear us, O God.
Your mercy is great.

Receive these prayers, O God, and those too deep for words; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Sharing of the Peace

Announcements

Offering
https://tithe.ly/give_new/www/#/tithely/give-one-time/468062

Sending Litany[3]:
Architect of the Universe,
Your voice called out over the deep and darkness and brought forth light.

Your voice called out over the waters and brought forth life.

Your voice called out over this earth and brought forth our very beings.

Your voice continues to call out in our Universe and bring new hope and new life.

Help us to hear Your voice above the hum of the highway and the buzz of the business talk.

Help us to hear Your voice in the cries of children, in the soft tones of the sick, in the pleas of the poor.

As you send us out, may we still hear, listen, and respond to Your voice in our lives and in our world.

Lord’s Prayer:
Gathered into one by the Holy Spirit, let us pray as Jesus taught us saying:
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name,
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread;
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory,
forever and ever. Amen.

Benediction:
Neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.

God, the creator, + Jesus, the Christ, and the Holy Spirit, the comforter, bless you and keep you in eternal life.
Amen

Dismissal:
Go in peace. Christ is with you!
Thanks be to God!

Prayer Requests:
Bob Keifer, Celia Warren, Frank Danowsky, Marie Tanner, Sonja Noll, Irene Stark, Peg Swinehart, Alice Snyder, Greg Seibert, Harold Snyder, family and friends of Bill Krause, Colette Richards, Pat Thomas, Gladys Guffey, Terry Funk, Darv Krouse, Rob Lockwood, Kevin Hosey, Terry Smith, Rodney Heckert, the family and friends of Barbara Neilson, and Rebecca Otuszewski.

Portions reprinted from Evangelical Lutheran Worship, copyright 2006. Used by permission of Augsburg Fortress, license #SBL09796L. Music reprinted from the ELW, by permission of OneLicense, license #A712349. Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission.

[1] Written by Carol Penner, and posted on Leading in Worship. http://carolpenner.typepad.com/leadinginworship/

[2] Adapted from Jennifer G. Brownell and posted on RevGalBlogPals. http://revgalblogpals.org/2016/01/23/with-thanks-for-creativity-saturday-prayer/

[3]